Music’s changing, right? Ought to be! Every company that you give money to assures that they’re charging you in the name of progress. Billionaires assure us that there’s nothing that we can do down here and are getting ready to sell you vacation tickets to Mars. And, the local heroes are done playing those old songs, and are working now with odd-time signatures, fast-played arpeggios and insisting that adding singing to their new material would simply ruin it. Ah, progress.
But if record label recruiters are busy scratching their heads and drowning their sorrows using the company wallet, don’t fall into the same pit of despair. Much hasn’t changed, has it? A revised Beatles demo went to #1 last. The enigmatic Emmit Rhodes is discovered by more and more people every year. And, Sloe Paul trusts that there’s a vocal melody out there, floating in the ether, that will solve everything.
And, indeed, when old-fashioned gorgeous melodies and the right arrangement meet, the effect is simply magical. One can’t help but listen to something like that and, for a moment, wonder why there’s any division and strife in the world where something like this exists. That’s precisely what Sloe Paul is looking for.
It’s no wonder that this album is titled “Searching/Finding.” Each of the nine songs feels like the singer-songwriter is running through some alchemical process while using 60s pop-rock as the prima materia.
You’ll hear it on the opening song, “Venus Weeks,” with its astral arrangement, and bittersweet lyrics about locating love, but never quite managing to grasp it completely. Pay extra attention to the production values while you’re listening! The record pulls off a mighty nice trick of achieving the kind of warmth of a late 1960s studio recording.
Still, there are plenty of people who still desire to write love songs and spread them out into the world. There are plenty of well-intended musicians. What makes Sloe Paul different? Exercise and knowledge, with not an unimportant dose of talent.
Sloe Pau’s songs don’t just take the chord progressions and intentions behind the original pop heavyweights. There’s a considerable amount of sophistication at play, and hardly any showboating. The song structure, vocal melodies, and the nice payoff that the chorus delivers on “What I Dream At Night” are hardly the result of a spirited rock n’ roll jam session.
The jazzy “First Day of Eternal Spring” is technically impressive, but there’s no note played on it that should be there. And “Winter in Paris,” a joyous melancholy of a pop song, should have collectors of all things Beatles and Emmit Rhodes want to pay attention.
But is this a retro affair, strictly? Not always. The album’s a mood companion, certainly. But when Sloe Paul uses more modern percussion sounds for the playful “Badger,” the result is a psychedelically-tinged song that could easily earn the favour of modern audiences.
Where does it leave us? In bed, eyes closed, listening, hopefully. The alchemical process worked. Sloe Paul’s proven that history moves around in circles and that one of the essentials that the world is looking for is still beautiful melodies wrapped in excellent arrangements.
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